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Lawmakers call for investigation into mass graves of immigrants exhumed in a Texas cemetery

FALFURRIAS — Two Texas state lawmakers are calling for an investigation of mass graves of immigrants exhumed in a South Texas cemetery this month.

State. Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg said Sunday he has no doubt that crimes were committed in the haphazard burial of immigrant remains at a cemetery in Falfurrias. State Sen. Chuy Hinojosa, D-Corpus Christi told the Caller-Times on Friday that he was calling for a criminal investigation.

Baylor University anthropologist Lori Baker said her team unearthed remains in trash bags, nothing at all and body bags with multiple sets of remains together. They made 52 exhumations, but are not yet sure how many individuals are there.

Many immigrants die on the ranchlands of Brooks County, an hour's drive north of the border, where they try to circumvent a Border Patrol highway checkpoint.